Posted on 08/27/2007 5:30:27 PM PDT by neverdem
What no politician will ever admit publicly is that the most significant single thing to affect costs is Medicare. Since its inception Medicare has been distorting and shifting costs to users in the private sector. When the government forces providers to furnish services at or below their cost, someone has to pay the difference. That would be those of us who use insurance or pay out of pocket.
There are obviously multiple variables at work, HC is a complex system. But the boogyman, the six hundred pound gorilla is the government/Medicare.
As as surely as that is true, it is also a guarantee that our system can’t and won’t be fixed because no one is going to stand in front of voters and say that Medicare has screwed up things. That until the government gets out of the business of price fixing via Medicare, things will not improve.
The government solution to fixing the problems it has caused is more government intervention. Welcome to socialized medicine, it is already halfway here.
You could? Because I don't consider Reagan nor Santorum a 'hero' I don't consider any politician of the 20th century a 'hero'. But please do continue.
Romney's plan, in a nutshell, would REDUCE the meddling hand of today's government beaurocracy by encouraging low income/non-covered people to BUY THEIR OWN PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE (thru individual partial grants or subsidies).
And just where does that grant or subsidy money come from? The money fairy? They won't be buying it, we will. With our tax dollars
A compassionate American just cant sit idly by and watch someone get sick and die, regardless of how irresponsible that person is or was to begin with.
Of course they can't. That's what charities are for. To help the less fortunate. Perhaps if we had a little more money in our own pockets instead of politicians suggesting 'plans' these charities might be doing a little better than they are.
he’s your
rino.
Of course, Americans more and more are in a vicious cycle of donut hell. It’s why we all need health care. Romney is the guy to save us all from our powdered donuts. ;-)
I don't think you do.
You Romney haters...
I don't hate Romney, I just don't think he should be the nominee...not of the GOP anyway.
...are the only REAL conservatives...
I never said that.
...and everyone else is just pretending.
Not everyone else is just pretending, just Willard.
Is that is?
Was that was?
That seems to be the same kind of proposal most socialists make. The people don't know what's good for them, so they need us to dictate to them.
What next. Will the RomneyCare bureacrats decide that what I am eating is unhealthy and start dictating to me what to eat?
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." - Ben Franklin.
So we should be “Mind-numbed robots” and vote for whoever Ann tells us to?
Anyone mind if I scream?
I have no desire for Ronmeny-care any more than Hillary-Care.
If the issue boils down to Ronmeny vs Hillary this would be a very tough tough choice.
I have no more desire for romney stealing money from my pocket than i have for hillary to steal money from my pocket.
stick a fork in romney he is finished.
I agree with you. Medicare is fraught with fraud and abuse and the government has proven that they are completely incapable of dealing with that.
How that can work? Instead of paying for health coverage for seniors, subsidize insurance premiums so that the private health insurance carrier is running the show — I can assure you the provider fraud we see so out of control now will be reigned in immediately.
The reality of it is that the government cutting it off completely just is not going to ever happen - EVER. So let’s try to fix the system with a system that will work, which is what Romney did.
Sure it does. If he goes to the emergency room, he'll get treated for free, causing your healthcare costs to go up. If he gets a contageous disease, he might spread it to you.
But that doesn't pan out when you consider that many people who DON't have health insurance simply spend LESS on health care, not more.
Yeah, but the difference is, when they don't have health insurance, they're spending your money. When they have health insurance, they're spending their own.
Those who are covered by health plans (especially those covered by employers) will go to the doctor waaay more, studies show.
Yeah, but it's not on your dime.
If a non-covered person gets sick and dies, it in fact costs society less than if they were covered by Medicaid or Medicare, or whichever.
What if they have kids or dependents? A breadwinner getting sick dying means all of them become wards of the state. What if the person doesn't get immunized, or gets a contageous disease and spread it? The costs of that are huge.
I heard that a lot waaaay back when he first announced.
I hear it less often now.
I suspect we'll be hearing even less of it in the future.
I love the hand ringing about government intervening in healthcare. We already have government run healthcare, you pay for it in your premiums. The courts are running the system demanding every illegal be treated in the hospitals. All we are arguing about is how to streamline the process to make it efficient and as cheap as possible. Premiums are killing all of us. We have to figure out how to channel patients to doctor offices instead of emergency rooms. You do that by having more people insured.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Contrary to what you think, it's not all about you. It's about the thousands of freeloaders who somehow have enough money to buy cell phones for each family member, 45 inch TVs, MP3 players, SUVs etc, but when a medical emergency hits they leave the hospitals, and, ultimately us, holding the bills. Why? Because they can.
It's about personal responsibility which seems to be a vanishing commodity around here -- even though a traditional conservative principle.
Romney's plan doesn't force you to buy any health insurance plan some bureaucrat thinks you need. On the contrary, you have the option to maintain Health Savings Accounts or demonstrate an ability to pay for you own medical care instead of forcing me and the other taxpayers to pay the consequences for your irresponsibility in higher premiums or closed hospitals.
You are never going to get the government completely out of the system, but this plan goes a long way to doing just that by putting the onus on private citizens to plan ahead. Romney believes that by expanding and deregulating the private health insurance market, we can decrease costs and ensure that more Americans have access to affordable, portable, quality, private health insurance. No more excuses.
One way or the other, someone is forced to pay the bill. Most people would prefer it be the person who actually receives the care -- not the taxpayers.
Look, go here ------> (http://www.freerepublic.com/~unmarkedpackage/#healthcare) and get informed on the actual proposal so you know what the heck you are talking about next time so you don't have to appear foolish.
I like that quote from Ben, but in this case Mark's quote is more appropos. It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.-- Mark Twain
why he is going to keep self financing his candidacy?
Here's a more viewable version of the plan in a power point format:
The Romney Vision: Health Care Reform Goals
• First, Instituting Reforms That Make Private Health Insurance Affordable. More Americans need access to quality, private health insurance.
• Second, Providing Access To Quality Health Insurance For Every American.
• Third, Enhancing The Portability Of Private Health Insurance.
• Finally, Slowing The Rate Of Inflation In Health Care Spending.
Linking Goals With Action Steps:
The Federalist Approach -- Governor Romney's Approach To Health Care Reform Is One That Values The States As Laboratories Of Innovation And Beacons Of Creativity.
The Romney Plan: Six Action Steps
• Step 2: Redirect Federal Spending On "Free Care" To Help The Low-Income Uninsured Purchase Private Insurance.
• Step 3: Institute Health Savings Account (HSA) Enhancements And The Full Deductibility Of Qualified Medical Expenses.
• Step 4: Promote Innovation In Medicaid.
• Step 5: Implement Medical Liability Reform.
• Step 6: Bring Market Dynamics And Modern Technology To Health Care.
His nephew is my neighbor, and he told them as much way back in October in a extended family council when he was deciding whither or not to run.
Those kind of numbers are near impossible in regular campaign financing.
We’ve already seen candidates drop out due to money. While Mitt is a great fund raiser, he has other resources that he might pull from. I see nothing wrong with that, especially if it means defeating the Clinton machine,
Like Newt Gingrich said: "You can have affordable health care and a good environment for jobs. Or you can have rich trial lawyers filing frivolous lawsuits. Not both."
From the Romney Platform:
- Tort Costs Are Too High. According to a recent report, U.S. tort costs reached $260.8 billion in 2005, which translates to $880 per person. This is an amount greater than the Gross Domestic Product of all but 35 countries in the world. Frivolous lawsuits and outrageous damages awards create a "liability tax" or "tort tax," which are passed along to every consumer in the country.
- Governor Romney Believes We Should Limit Non-Economic Damages And Prevent Excessive Punitive Damages Award. Non-Economic damages are inherently speculative, and a reasonable statutory cap makes sense. Governor Romney also believes we need a statutory prohibition on outrageous punitive damage awards.
- Governor Romney Believes We Should Require More Disclosure In Contingency Fee Arrangements. More disclosure will help clients make informed decisions, and it will help end abusive lawsuits and extortionate settlement demands by plaintiffs' lawyers.
Even the co-founder of the Federalist Society, Judge Robert Bork, agrees that national tort reform has become necessary.
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